How Nintendo DRM trapped $400 of downloaded games on my failing Wii (updated)

And why the console maker wants $60 to help me free my purchases.

(This story has been updated with further information at the bottom of this post)

Downloading Nintendo’s massive, day-one Wii U firmware update took over an hour, but the length of time didn't bother me. I would finally be able to transfer the Virtual Console games I bought for the Wii over to my new Wii U. Then I could finally remove the old console itself from my entertainment center.

An error occurred

Moving content from an old Wii to a new Wii U could have been as simple as transferring Wii-based content to an SD card, then inserting that card into the Wii U. Instead, Nintendo set up a convoluted DRM system, hoping to ensure Wii owners could only play downloaded games (or access other personal content) on a single console.

The actual transfer process is handled by a free “Wii Transfer Tool,” which you download from the Wii Shop Channel to both the old and new systems. As the on-screen instructions explain in great detail, the process has three main steps:

Insert an SD card with at least 512MB free into the Wii U. The Wii U then registers the system and SD card with an Internet server. Next, it prepares a partition on the SD card for the transfer.

Put that same SD card into the Wii. The system connects to the Internet (presumably to confirm this content hasn’t been copied to another system yet), then copies the entire contents of the Wii system memory to the SD card. It will simultaneously delete that content from the source Wii.

Put the SD card back into the Wii U. After a final Internet check, all the data and personal information on the Wii is copied to the Wii U.

Getting this entire process set up was time-consuming and inconvenient. It required a lot of remote juggling and TV input switching. But after half an hour, I was finally watching a bunch of cute Pikmin slowly copy the accumulated contents of my Wii to the SD card. Then, with Step 2 of the above process roughly 33 percent done, the screen suddenly went black. My Wii displayed the message shown at the top of this post:

“An error occurred while accessing Wii system memory. Refer to the Wii Operations Manual for details.”

At this point, I had one thought—I was totally screwed. The Wii Transfer Tool warned me a dozen times not to turn off the system or remove the SD card during the transfer process. My data might have been corrupted. Or perhaps Nintendo’s servers already registered my transfer attempt and would prevent me from even trying again.

The system wasn’t responding to any Wii Remote input or even to a normal press of the power button. I finally bit the bullet: it was time to hold the power button down to perform a hard reset. Initially, things looked good, and I was surprised to find my data was unaffected. The transfer process started up again without a hitch. But the calm didn't last long; my second transfer stopped at exactly the same point as the first. A third attempt yielded the same results.

I finally listened to the screen and looked at the manual. The Wii Operations Manual pointed me to the Nintendo Support Website. The Nintendo Support Website directed me to an 800 number. The representative there delivered the news coolly: my system needed to be repaired before I could continue the transfer process. My Wii is well past its 12-month warranty, so this process would cost $75 plus a $10 cherry on top for the shipping.

What's actually trapped

Without the repair, I could recover some data from my Wii. My most important save data is already backed up to an SD card, and the rest can also be copied over to my Wii U without issue. (However, the Wii U oddly insists that I play each game on the new system before I’m allowed to copy over said data.)

But the Wii hardware actively prevents me from copying the save data for some games, most notably Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii. Why? My guess is that this is to solve possible technical or fairness issues associated with using the same online account on multiple systems. I still don’t really understand why that means the characters and levels I’ve unlocked have to be trapped on my Wii forever. I’m assuming the Wii Transfer Tool could move this save data for me, but the memory issue makes it impossible without paying for a repair.

All of that is only a minor inconvenience. The larger issue remains: the fate of dozens of Virtual Console games I’ve purchased for my Wii over the years hangs in the balance. The collection is worth about $400 by my estimates. Most of these games are backed up on that same SD card (since they wouldn’t all fit on the Wii system memory), but Nintendo’s copy protection ties their license data exclusively to the Wii system on which they were originally downloaded. The Wii Transfer Tool would move this license data for me, if it worked. As it stands, the games stay jailed on antiquated hardware.

If I want to re-download my purchases to the Wii U, there’s no way for me to confirm to the new system that I am, in fact, the person who purchased all these games. My Wii Shop account data is also tied to the Wii on which it was set up. (Naturally, shifting it to the Wii U requires the Wii Transfer Tool.) The 300 Wii Shop Points (worth only $3) I had left over are a small casualty of this situation, but I'm suddenly glad I didn’t keep a larger virtual currency balance. Any Miis I created or stored on the Wii are also trapped if the Wii Transfer Tool won't ultimately work, but I can't say I'm too broken up about that.

I asked the Nintendo support representative whether there was any way to just transfer my license and account data from the Wii to the Wii U. This could prove to the system that I am me, without having to use the non-responsive Transfer Tool. The short answer? No.

I was told that the only way to get my account moved was to pay for the system repairs, then try the transfer again. The representative seemed unsure if my save data (including the uncopyable Smash Bros. and Mario Kart data) would be safe throughout the repair process. He assured me that my license and account data would be fine and transferable, though, even if Nintendo had to replace the entire system piece by piece.

I had to stand up a bit here. I complained that the quoted $85 seemed like a high price for the ability to transfer games I already legally purchased (and to repair a system I was literally planning on never using again). My efforts earned me a “loyal customer” discount of $25. The rep then e-mailed me a printable shipping slip and said I had 14 months to use it. I would be charged $60 (plus Pennsylvania sales tax) only when the system was repaired and ready to be sent back—one to two weeks after Nintendo receives it.

The choice

That’s where things stand. Thanks to aging hardware and a strict DRM system, I have a choice to make. Spend $60 to move $400 of legitimate Virtual Console purchases and other data from my aging Wii to my brand new Wii U—or don't. If I pass, at least I can continue playing those games on the Wii until the memory issue affecting the transfer process eventually prevents the Wii from working at all. At that point, I presume I would need the same repair option to save my purchases.

At the moment, I’m undecided. I enjoy having a virtual library of classic games at my fingertips on the Wii, but truthfully, I rarely play those titles. (I don't need a quick hit of nostalgia on the big screen every day.) And I loathe essentially rewarding Nintendo by paying the company for making this process so difficult. Then again, I’ve already sunk hundreds of dollars into buying these games, and I would prefer to keep that value going forward.

Most Wii owners will probably be able to use the transfer tool without a hitch, seamlessly enjoying their older content on the newer system. Sadly, a "loyal customer" like me wasn't so lucky.

UPDATE:Afewcommenters suggested that I might be able to avoid having to send my Wii in for repair by formatting my Wii's system memory and trying the transfer process again. This would guarantee I would lose the uncopyable save data on the system, but I would save the cost and hassle of a Nintendo repair.

After triple-checking my backup, I tried reformatting this morning. After waiting an hour and a half (for a process that Internet reports say usually takes a couple of minutes), I decided that the formatting had failed somewhere (even though the system showed it was still processing). I performed a hard reset, expecting my console to be a useless brick, but instead found that the formatting seems to have deleted some, but not all, of my saved data. I redownloaded the Wii Transfer Tool and started the process again, only to find that I got the same memory error, only now it appeared almost immediately, rather than a third of the way into the process.

Just for kicks, I went into my Wii save data management and tried deleting the file that the process seemed to be hanging on, an old save for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009. The system has been trying to delete that small file for the last ten minutes now without success. At this point, I'm guessing there's a physical problem with a specific memory location inside that file that is causing the transfer to malfunction.

Again, most Wii owners probably won't run in to this specific problem, and I don't necessarily expect Nintendo to be responsible for a physical problem in a system that's five years out of warranty. But the only reason this small hardware problem is an issue at all is that Nintendo's DRM is forcing the Transfer Tool to freeze on that bad sector, rather than simply letting me copy files from a clean backup or re-download purchases through a password-protected account.

Since this story was published, Nintendo PR has reached out to offer me a free repair on my console (an offer which Ars Technica's code of ethics prevents me from accepting). I'm currently awaiting a response from Nintendo on the prevalence of this kind of issue and whether the company would consider extending the Wii U's warranty to cover transfer-related issues on older Wii consoles.

Until then, I'm leaning toward paying to send the system in for repairs, just to see how the entire process goes and to confirm whether or not it will actually fix my problem. I'll be sure to update you if and when I have more information on that score.

Promoted Comments

The reason that the game data for Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Mario Kart Wii isn't transferred is because those games can be played via the internet. Any game that can use the internet won't allow game data to be backed up to an SD card or use the SD card to store the data. I hit this same issue when my launch series Wii's optical drive died and I got a new Wii to replace it. A guy that I work with had the same drive failure occur on his launch series Wii and he took it to a local repair shop to get the drive replaced because of the library of Virtual Console games his kids have on the unit.

In fact, things are even more irritating in these cases because unless you send the unit into Nintendo themselves for repair, you are unable to transfer any Virtual Console purchases between Wii consoles at all. The fact that Nintendo even provides a tool like this for the Wii U is at least a tiny step in the right direction for them.

I have to agree with the other people though, that with other platforms like XBox, PS3, iOS, Android and Steam allowing this to work with a single account and not binding the account to a device (with the exception of iOS, which allows a maximum of 5 devices to be tied to a single iTunes account (or did, not sure if that is still the case)), it is time that Nintendo catch up with the times. It can't be because all the third party developers are asking for it, since those same developers are fine with the way it works on the other platforms. This has to be something that is specifically for first party games from Nintendo.

Shawn

108 posts | registered Feb 28, 2005

Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl

This isn't even fixed for the future. Wii U games are still tied to your console instead of a portable account like the 360/PS3 have had since launch. So when it's time to get the console after Wii U, people may well be in exactly your situation.

A lot of them were from the time I was reviewing nearly every Virtual Console/WiiWare game for another web site. But I also have a soft spot for retro gaming, and used the Wii to try out a lot of older titles I missed the first time around.

Nintendo really doesn't get some things. With everything from the 360 and PS3 to your phone tying accounts and purchases to an account and not a specific hardware device, this kind of nonsense is just unacceptable.

It's not just the Wii either, your Nintendo Network ID on the Wii U, with all your friends and purchases, is tied to the hardware, which means you can't just move it around like you can on every other device you own. Nintendo needs to look outside their own bubble and realize it's 2012.

Another shining example of what we the consumers can expect when dealing with corporations who treat their patrons as all being potential pirates. DRM didn't work then, it doesn't work now, and unless people start voting with their wallets, will continue to screw legitimate consumers well into the foreseeable future.

I had a different issue when performing the Wii U Transfer... While the system was "transferring" Yoshi's Story" it gave me a network connection error and told me I would have to start the transfer over...

This is one of the key reasons I refuse to pay for digital only goods ( I do make a few exceptions for DRM-free indie games because they can't afford to publish physical copies).

Digital only with DRM puts all of the power in the hands of the content holder. No reselling, no archiving, no guaranteed transfer from one device to another, proprietary formats, vendor lock in and the list goes on. I also refuse to buy physical copies that require online activation for much the same reason.

I just want to make sure I understand the crux of the issue correctly.

Not quite - the point is there should be no reason whatsoever that he can't just download that content fresh to the new system. Nintendo already has his account and purchase data, so they know it's him and he purchased it.

Or more simply, when we're dealing with a bunch of online-provided bits, there's no reason we should be dealing with SD cards and multi-step processes in the first place.

Apple nailed this one. Buy a new device, and sync with iTunes or iCloud. Everything moves over and works in one fell swoop.

I haven't used a Wii in years, but why not try uninstalling and/or deleting the game that is causing the transfer to fail. Perhaps it would skip over to the next game and you could retrieve all but one?? {Is this possible on a Wii?}

Oops. I guess Nintendo didn't count on you being a writer for Ars. Now your unfortunate story is going to be read by thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of people.

I was initially going to say that probably within a few hours Nintendo will contact him to fix his problem while the many customers who don't write for ars but have similar problems remain screwed. But then I realized this is Nintendo, not Sony or Microsoft, they won't even do that.

The reason that the game data for Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Mario Kart Wii isn't transferred is because those games can be played via the internet. Any game that can use the internet won't allow game data to be backed up to an SD card or use the SD card to store the data. I hit this same issue when my launch series Wii's optical drive died and I got a new Wii to replace it. A guy that I work with had the same drive failure occur on his launch series Wii and he took it to a local repair shop to get the drive replaced because of the library of Virtual Console games his kids have on the unit.

In fact, things are even more irritating in these cases because unless you send the unit into Nintendo themselves for repair, you are unable to transfer any Virtual Console purchases between Wii consoles at all. The fact that Nintendo even provides a tool like this for the Wii U is at least a tiny step in the right direction for them.

I have to agree with the other people though, that with other platforms like XBox, PS3, iOS, Android and Steam allowing this to work with a single account and not binding the account to a device (with the exception of iOS, which allows a maximum of 5 devices to be tied to a single iTunes account (or did, not sure if that is still the case)), it is time that Nintendo catch up with the times. It can't be because all the third party developers are asking for it, since those same developers are fine with the way it works on the other platforms. This has to be something that is specifically for first party games from Nintendo.

This kind of bullshit is why I rarely buy anything off any console storefront. At least on the 360 most of my MS Points are from Bing Rewards, so the content is "free". I fully expect MS to leave me hanging at some point.

At least Nintendo is upfront about not giving a goddamm about future-proofing your purchases.

I'm having my own nightmare with Nintendo as well. The L shoulder button on my 3DS quit working last week and when I called Nintendo about it, they wanted $100 (that includes the shipping and tax and such) to fix it (I don't understand why I have to pay sales tax on the repair though). Of course I am out of warranty so if I want to play anything besides NES games on my 3DS, I am going to have to shell out the $100 to repair it or fix it myself. So I decided to go the DIY route and ordered a new L shoulder button and some tools from iFixIt to replace it myself (I'm no stranger to repairing gaming handhelds as I have done it with my PSP on a number of occasions) but unfortunately, the screws inside are so tight that I can't get them loose to get in and replace the button. So now I don't know if I really want to pay to get it repaired or just go by a 3DS XL. I wish they were more like Bose and ignored when the warranty expired and replace it for free anyway.

I had a launch Wii that broke in 2007 and I sent it back to Nintendo and they repaired it (I only had to pay shipping one way). I was unable to backup my Smash Bros save because it couldn't be copied or moved to an SD card, probably the same reason the Wii to WiiU transfer doesn't take it along. Nintendo didn't copy it onto the repaired unit they sent me back either, even though every other save game and setting was copied. That was the last time I turned my Wii on, because I was very frustrated that all the effort my friends and I had placed into unlocking Smash Bros stuff was entirely wasted.

Nintendo's approach has been a source of frustration for quite a while now. I had purchase several hundred dollars of games for the Wii (most of the n64 lineup). My Wii decided to stop reading disks and was well out of warranty. It was far cheaper to buy a new Wii off a friend then to send it in for repairs.

End result? Absolutely no way to move games from Wii to Wii so all the games still sit unused and unloved on my old system. Oh and I haven't purchased a Virtual Console game since then.

Except of course there are multiple games and services that have had issues causing you to lose access to your games for various periods of time, or rendering certain installs unrevokable causing you to run into your install limit.

DRM is fail on any platform.

gwguy wrote:

Nintendo's approach has been a source of frustration for quite a while now. I had purchase several hundred dollars of games for the Wii (most of the n64 lineup). My Wii decided to stop reading disks and was well out of warranty. It was far cheaper to buy a new Wii off a friend then to send it in for repairs.

End result? Absolutely no way to move games from Wii to Wii so all the games still sit unused and unloved on my old system. Oh and I haven't purchased a Virtual Console game since then.

A softmod on both would allow you to clone the NAND to the new console (or, you can also just grab the license keys, both are possible). But of course that requires a mod. Also doesn't help the author unless he finds an extra Wii.

I am shocked to be writing this but it is not purely Nintendo's fault. It appears they are not setup or do not want to assume the cost of tracking your purchases on their end and allowing you to re-download the titles again from their servers.

That means that if your Wii failed outside of warranty and the transfer relies on your working Wii you are on hook for the repair if you want your content transferred. That is only Nintendo's fault insofar that they chose this method for content transfer.

It is pretty cool you are allowed to transfer your content at all and if your Wii fails your Wii fails.

Yeah, it is purely Nintendo's fault. My 360 died (out of warranty). I had zero problems getting any purchased content back. My DS died, and I had no problems with any saves. My computer died and I had zero problems getting any purchased content back. It's fully on Nintendo's shoulders that they can't do the simple stuff right.

PC gaming has had worse DRM than consoles for awhile now with online activations for almost every AAA title. If Steam ever goes under there are going to be a lot of unhappy people out there. Despite the urban legend, there is no official statement that Steam games will be playable if steam ends.

Sony dropped their redownloads from 5 to 3. Which is still reasonable since you can easily login to your account on a friends PS3, download your games to it. Then he has free games. Probably takes a call to Sony to reset the limit.

Never understood why you just not have a Nintendo account like everyone else now. Getting DSi eShop games you had to send your device to Nintendo to transfer them to a 3DS.

I haven't used a Wii in years, but why not try uninstalling and/or deleting the game that is causing the transfer to fail. Perhaps it would skip over to the next game and you could retrieve all but one?? {Is this possible on a Wii?}

I have no idea which game in particular is causing the failure. I don't think it's a specific file, but perhaps a specific memory sector in the Wii's flash memory. That is what the Nintendo rep led me to believe was the likely culprit, at least.

KevinG wrote:

Random question, have you tried a different SD card? Perhaps the issue is with the card and not the Wii?

I actually haven't. The error and my talk with the Nintendo rep led me to think it was a problem with the internal memory, not with the SD card. But I will try that and report back. Man I'm going to feel silly if that was the issue...

PC gaming has had worse DRM than consoles for awhile now with online activations for almost every AAA title. If Steam ever goes under there are going to be a lot of unhappy people out there. Despite the urban legend, there is no official statement that Steam games will be playable if steam ends.

Steam is a long term rental service until proven otherwise.

Activation is a rather small lock compared to a console lock. Most publishers allowed additional activiations from a phone call or eliminated the total count. Nintendo needs a simple tool where you enter your Wii account, Wii Serial, Wii U Serial. Done, go ahead and redownload everything.

The faulty hardware is only preventing me from moving my content because of Nintendo's DRM scheme. Without that, the content backed up on my SD card would be perfectly usable on the Wii U.

Worst case for me the Wii U would be returned to the store it was bought from very shortly. Best case, I'd never bother downloading anything for it again with that DRM model governing the system. Of course if you're being paid for reviews I guess that would be different. If the games weren't intended to work on both systems that would be one thing, but if they are then paying $60-85 to "move" them? I would just "move" the Wii to a cardboard "box" and "move" it back if I wanted to play the games.